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Show !r Kearns crowd still Losing. 1 Every day it becomes more and 1 more apparent that this loathsome j excrescence which sprang up in Salt 1 Lake and blatcntly arrogated to itself the name of the "American party," I has about run its course. A year and a half ago when by a fluke it took control of this municipality it was stated by Truth that all that was needed was to give it rope cnough and it would hang itself. This prediction predic-tion was made from an intimate knowledge of the methods of that party and a just estimate of the calibre cali-bre of the men at the head of it and the men who had been returned to office, of-fice, The administration has had a free hand and the hangman's noose it has securely fastened on its own neck. All that remains is for the people peo-ple to give it a pull and that they are anxiously waiting to do next November. Novem-ber. The leading features of the "American" administration have been boodle, gross extravagance and glaring glar-ing incompetence. Twice it has raised the tax levy and at the same time bankrupted the public treasury. Last year the levy was raised to 12 mills and this year it is put up another notch to 13 mills, notwithstanding that the increased valuation of property prop-erty would, without any advance in the levy, bring in about $70,000 more revenue than last year. Large sums of money have been " collected as special taxes for side- f walk and sewer extensions. The mon- ,, ey has been squandered, the improve- ments for which the money was col lected have not be.cn made and can't be made because the money to pay ( for them is gone and the property owners can neither get their money back nor the improvements. The administration has been hand- in-glovie. with thieves and bunco men. i The police department it has been clearly proved "stands in" with thieves protects them from punishment and I receives in return for its protection a g. percentage of the plunder. This I "American" administration supports i and encourages the police in their ras- 5s! cality and the party and its press or- t gans, the Tribune and Telegram open ly defend the thieves and their allies, the police, and have made it an issue liSfiriifri - V..... in the election campagin now beginning. be-ginning. Ail these things have thoroughly disgusted the public. The schemes and villainy arc so transparent that they arc easily seen through. The taxpayers arc angry at the increase in taxes and at the way the public money has boon squandered. The sentiment against the party and its methods is growing stronger and more pronounced every day. The vile attacks of the party pness organs on President Roosevelt have turned all decent people both republicans and democrate against the "American" "Ameri-can" party. The handwriting on the wall is so plain that there is no mistaking mis-taking its import. The Tribune's plan of campaign Is to strengthen the democratic party as much as possible so that with three tickets in the field, republican, democratic demo-cratic and "American" the latter might slide in between the two former. The strong indications at this time are that in order to defeat the unholy, boodling gang with which the city is cursed there will be a general concentration con-centration on the republican ticket. The Tribune's plan is to prevent such a concentration. It will try to stir up all kinds of trouble between democrate demo-crate and republicans, just as it did last fall, but its efforts will probably be no more successful than they were a year ago. A new complaint has been filed against Chief of Police Sheets. This one charges him with receiving a bribe of $1800 for giving the protection protec-tion of tine police department to the gang that robbed the two McWhirter brothers of $10,300. The evidence to support the charge is said to be overwhelming. over-whelming. If the prosecuting officers can get the case into court and before a jury there is likely to be something doing. There is a disposition on the part of a good many ' Americans" to cut lose from! Sheets nd the police scandal. It is causing the party no end of trouble and obliging them to make explanations which don't explain, The worst thing about it for the "Americans" is that thew made it an issue themselves. They and their organs have defended both the thieves and the police and heaped ignominy and scorn on the two innocent men who were robbed and on the sheriff who did such valient work in apprehending the thieves, .lot-withstanding .lot-withstanding the determined opposition opposi-tion of the police. It is said that some of the big guns of the party want Sheets to step down from his office during the pendency of the case. It is generally thought, however, that MV. Sheets won't do anything of the kind. The chief comes pretty near being the master of both Ex-Senator. Kearns and the Tribune. He knows so much of their villainy in the years that have passed that he can force them "to stay by him to the end. They have got to defend Sheets whether they like it or not. |